Opaye

The old Pearl Brewery in San Antonio is today a shopping/dining complex along the River Walk, with green, landscaped public plazas. … Read More

The post Contemporary re-use in landscaping at San Antonio’s Pearl appeared first on Digging.

The old Pearl Brewery in San Antonio is today a shopping/dining complex along the River Walk, with green, landscaped public plazas. It’s called Pearl. We made time to poke around at Pearl during an April visit to the Alamo City. (Here’s Part 1 of that visit.)

Historic Pearl

The first thing you notice in the landscaping is industrial elements like rusty steel and relics from the old brewery. Lake | Flato and Austin’s own Ten Eyck Landscape Architects contributed to Pearl’s welcoming design that connects the past to the present.

Board-formed concrete walls and planters filled with dwarf palmettos and purple heart divide the plaza into green spaces, with plenty of seating to hang out and people-watch.

I especially like this tiered fountain made from repurposed industrial equipment. Are they giant caps of some kind? Water sluices from a steel aqueduct down a rain chain into the fountain.

Steel tanks have been turned into planters too.

Vines crawl up a metal mesh doorway dividing one part of the plaza from another.

That same mesh helps shade a seating area with ceiling fans and lights.

These squiggly metal bars screen one end — something pulled out of the old brewery, I assume.

Last look at the fountain

Hotel Emma

The rustically elegant Hotel Emma occupies the old brewery building, and since it’s open to the public, we popped in to look around. This is the lobby.

Down a hallway, a door opens onto this enclosed but open-air patio with terracotta cross tile floor and ivy-covered brick wall.

A fountain trickles from the wall into a round basin.

Old steel windows look out on the River Walk’s trees and passersby.

It’s a restful spot.

In the hotel’s bar and club room, called Sternewirth, old fermentation tanks make hideaway booths for patrons.

The bar wasn’t yet open when we visited. One day I’ll come back and enjoy a drink in one of the unique seating areas at Sternewirth.

To read Part 1 of my San Antonio visit, including the River Walk, the Alamo, and the Witte Museum, click here.

I welcome your comments. Please scroll to the end of this post to leave one. If you’re reading in an email, click here to visit Digging and find the comment box at the end of each post. And hey, did someone forward this email to you, and you want to subscribe? Click here to get Digging delivered directly to your inbox!

__________________________

Digging Deeper

Come learn about gardening and design at Garden Spark! I organize in-person talks by inspiring designers, landscape architects, authors, and gardeners a few times a year in Austin. These are limited-attendance events that sell out quickly, so join the Garden Spark email list to be notified in advance; simply click this link and ask to be added. Season 8 kicks off in fall 2024. Stay tuned for more info!

All material © 2024 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

The post Contemporary re-use in landscaping at San Antonio’s Pearl appeared first on Digging.

Flowers are blooming and fawns are appearing in the garden. It’s the transition from spring to summer, a time of abundance.… Read More

The post Early summer flowers popping, deer fawning appeared first on Digging.

Before the stifling heat dome settles over Texas later this week from now until October, I’ve been racing from one garden to the next across Austin and beyond, from San Antonio to Blanco to Dallas. Fun? Absolutely! But also, my gosh, I have a ton of pictures to winnow and edit and round up into blog posts. Even though garden-tour season in Texas is now pretty much over until fall, I’ll be posting about my recent excursions for the next several weeks. But first, a quick look ’round my own garden as it transitions from spring into summer.

Let’s start on the shady side of the back garden, where purple oxalis is looking pretty, whether in turquoise…

…or dark-gray pots. Purple oxalis is one of my favorite shade plants for containers. Just look at those gorgeous, two-tone leaves and delicate lilac flowers. It’s worth elevating.

My cacti are flowering too. I repotted this mammillaria this spring, and it rewarded me with a growth spurt and showy orange flowers.

Shazam!

Good old-fashioned daylilies are flowering too.

‘Best of Friends’ started first…

…followed by ‘Wilson’s Yellow’. Both of these daylilies came with me, 16 years ago, from my old garden.

Ursula the variegated whale’s tongue agave isn’t flowering — agaves bloom just once, right before they die — but she’s looking like a big, blue rose streaked with moonlight yellow. Lookin’ good, Ursula!

Purple coneflowers are blooming with abandon. A metal flower in the background makes a silver echo.

More hot pink appears on the sunny deck, where another mammillaria cactus is putting on a show.

Those satin, carnation-pink petals with yellow centers are attention grabbing.

In the shady side garden, a few society garlic are flowering. But there’s something else to notice over here. See it? I startled a young fawn hidden in the grasses, and it popped up and dashed a few yards before looking back.

I stopped my pruning, took a couple of quick pics, and retreated, leaving it to settle in again until its mother returned for it.

Fawn public service announcement

Not everyone knows about fawns, as I recently learned from new-to-Austin neighbors. For those who don’t know, a doe (a female deer) will hide its newborn fawn (sometimes twins) in shrubbery, grasses, or even on a lawn, and then go off to browse for the day. Fawns know to stay put and will hide for hours until their mother returns. They may move around a little, but they’re OK. Eventually their mother will return to nurse. So if you see a fawn lying in your yard, alone and helpless, please leave it alone and let it wait for its mother’s return. If you’re worried that it’s been left too long, call Austin Wildlife Rescue to get their opinion before taking any action.

I’ll leave you with one more cutie spotted in a neighbor’s driveway on a recent morning walk. Soon the fawns will be big enough to stay with their mothers all day, and they’ll be visible all over the neighborhood. But for now they’re a bit like Easter eggs, and you never know when you’ll startle one out of hiding in your garden, giving you a little heart attack in the process.

I welcome your comments. Please scroll to the end of this post to leave one. If you’re reading in an email, click here to visit Digging and find the comment box at the end of each post. And hey, did someone forward this email to you, and you want to subscribe? Click here to get Digging delivered directly to your inbox!

__________________________

Digging Deeper

June 1-2: Take a self-guided, 2-day tour of ponds and gardens in and around Austin on the annual Austin Pond and Garden Tour, held 6/1 and 6/2, 9 am to 5 pm. Tickets are $20 to $25.

Come learn about gardening and design at Garden Spark! I organize in-person talks by inspiring designers, landscape architects, authors, and gardeners a few times a year in Austin. These are limited-attendance events that sell out quickly, so join the Garden Spark email list to be notified in advance; simply click this link and ask to be added. Season 8 kicks off in fall 2024. Stay tuned for more info!

All material © 2024 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

The post Early summer flowers popping, deer fawning appeared first on Digging.